Vauxhall previews high-tech Monza Concept

At the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, UK-based General Motors subsidiary Vauxhall will reveal a concept that it promises will be forward-looking and groundbreaking. The Monza Concept will preview the future of the brand, including connectivity that represents a "quantum leap in the development of infotainment systems."

The Monza Concept borrows its name from the original Monza, manufactured by Vauxhall's sister company Opel in the late 70s. The Monza's Vauxhall equivalent was the Royale, and the two cars served as the launch bed for the digital dashboard.

Likewise, the Monza Concept packs the latest advances in in-vehicle technology. Vauxhall has yet to detail exactly what those technologies are, but teases that they will show how its cars will "address the needs of a more closely connected and communications-savvy society," enabling "future individual mobility that’s more than simply a driving experience alone." That sounds like next-generation communications, social media and infotainment hardware to us, and perhaps even car-to-car communications.

"I can’t yet go into detail about how the Monza Concept’s interior design – and especially its trend-setting technologies – will change the driving experience," says Vauxhall/Opel CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann. "However, I can guarantee that viewed from any angle, its innovative body design and perfect proportions will turn heads. But they are just a visible expression of the great substance you will find under the bodywork."

In addition to connectivity, the Monza Concept is designed around a second driving theme: efficiency. Vauxhall says that the concept combines a "groundbreaking powertrain," efficiency-optimizing materials and build, and aerodynamics. While it doesn't delve into any further details, at least one aspect of the engineering is obvious in the preview photos – the Monza's large air scoops are sure to suck in plenty of air as the car drives forward.

We're not sure if those front gapes will be recreated on Vauxhall's production line, but the overall styling is a preview of what's to come. Vauxhall calls it an evolution of its "sculptural artistry meets technical precision" paradigm, an evolution that leans more lithely athletic than brutally muscular. The styling includes a low stance, three-dimensional hood crease and sharp headlamps.

We'll find out more about this one at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show, which opens to the press on September 10.

Upon graduating college with a poli sci degree, Chris toiled in the political world for several years. Realizing he was better off making cynical comments from afar than actually getting involved in all that mess, he turned away from matters of government and news to cover the things that really matter: outdoor recreation, cool cars, technology, wild gadgets and all forms of other toys. He's happily following the wisdom of his father who told him that if you find something you love to do, it won't really be work. All articles by C.C. Weiss

But do more quantum leaping with relevant stuff, most people already infotain themselves into brain hemorrhaged wrecks on a daily basis. How about a system that increases awareness of the outside instead of immersing the driver ever deeper into the i-cozy-self-confined SUV-coffin-feeling?

We are all different; our opinions change over time too; and then there is fashion. Nowadays it is fashionable to declare that most car designs more than five or ten years old are "butt ugly"...but most people liked them at the time. I recall when the Ford Sierra first appeared in Britain, most people thought it was "butt ugly" because of all those "butt ugly" curves.

Times change.

We are at the beginning of the driverless car era. Right now, many people confidently declare that they want things like "...a system that increases awareness of the outside instead of immersing the driver ever deeper into the i-cozy-self-confined SUV-coffin-feeling...", while others declare that nobody wants a car that takes away their "driving pleasure". Those are their opinions and they're entitled to hold them.

But a lot of driving today is _not_ a pleasure. It's a pain. It's traffic and more traffic. Motorways are very dull and boring. CCTV is everywhere (in Britain, at least) and speed traps waste our money. The school run, the daily grind in to and back out from work is tedious and annoying. And there are always many idiots out there.

So I expect that in a few years time someone like you will be declaring that cars like the Monza Concept are "butt ugly" and that only fools would want to look out of the windows of their car instead of chatting with friends online while the car takes them somewhere. By itself. And then drops them off at their destination before disappearing to find a space and park itself. And then comes back when summoned from their smartphone, picks them up and lets them enjoy a few drinks or a snooze while it drives them back home again, in a 'car train' at 150 or 200 mph, guaranteed safe because the vehicles all talk to one another, and all brake together, and all accelerate together.